Section 1 of this paper sets out the historical record on convergence. It decomposes the change in GDP per head into the effects of demographic changes and changes in output per person employed. Section 2 describes a small model of the economy with skilled and unskilled labour. This model is...

We estimate long-run interrelated demand functions for skilled labour, unskilled labour, clerical labour and capital services within dynamic framework using a panel of data on Irish manufacturing sectors during the 1980s. We group the sectors into three production ?types? ? high-growth sectors,...

In this paper we explore the consequences of the recent steep rise in house prices for the openness of the Irish labour market. Specifically we look at the possible effect rising house prices may have on the migration decision. Since many immigrants are in the household formation age group, and...

In this paper we search for a stable migration equation for Ireland over the period 1951-1995. Given the integration of the Irish and UK labour markets through a long-standing migration link we model net migration as being driven by labour market conditions in Ireland relative to the UK. As in...

Special Policy Issue: Convergence and Integration of the New Member States to the Euro Area